Hey there! A while ago I put out this tweet on the bird app, which gathered a small amount of traction
This inspired me to think deeply about this meta and kinda give my stance on mons that stand out to me right now. Some are obvious choices and some are a bit more out there.
restricted pokemon
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Calyrex-Shadow
Definitely the Pokemon I've had the most experience with when it comes to restricted options in this format. I like that Calyrex is fast, accurate, not particularly prediction reliant, and immediate. I've used both Mienshao-Tapu Lele based HO leaning builds that focus on grabbing early momentum (though you're gonna have to forgive me for not having a good replay) and more balance builds that focus on setting up an endgame. You can see some replays of this in the
no johns thread. Sometimes the game just ends because your rex hits the board at a point where nothing left can take Astral Barrage and positioning around the compounding boosts without recovery berries makes it impossible to withstand an assault at a weakened board state. My favorite set for Calyrex-S is double ghost moves + sub @ Life Orb, I think Tapu Lele can handle the Psychic-coverage on the HO stuff and you're not in terrain on balances so it doesn't hit hardly anything that just dies to ghost moves instead
(though Psyshock can be nice for hitting Nihilego). I think overall this thing is as good or only slightly less good than Zacian-C, though I'm not sure if that's a commentary on Zacian-C being overhyped or the rex being overrated
Xerneas
Everyone was pretty excited when Xerneas dropped but it turns out it's like... not
that good? Xerneas is really honest AND demanding of setup, which is fine, but it means you're gonna be playing every game from the back until you're in a position to click Geomancy. The presence of stuff like Zacian-C, Shedinja, full SDef Rillaboom, Thundurus, etc just means it's probably the hardest it's ever been to really get a Geomancy sweep going. You can see this in my round 1 set from
no johns where I had to fight really hard to win because my opponent's restricted was just better at coming in and putting on pressure.
Kyogre
When you say Kyogre, I pretty much instantly pair it with Tornadus and Tsareena because imo its just so much worse without the two of them. Torn puts damage on Rilla and throws out speed control (crucial because you aren't outrunning fast Eleki even when scarfed) and Tsareena stops Thundurus and Rillaboom from ruining your day. Incineroar is generally good here, though I have seen some Entei to fit the more aggressive nature of these teams. Shedinja and Ditto are some of my favorite filler mons on Kyogre teams, the former can just checkmate so much stuff that Ogre struggles vs, primarily Xerneas and electrics.
Zacian-C
Fast, bulky, powerful, great moves, excellent typing, Zacian-C is pretty much everything that makes threatening Pokemon threatening. I don't have a lot to say about this mon that you couldn't surmise yourself though, it's pretty honest and it really likes being paired with "the good Pokemon" because it appreciates the stability in its partners. You're typically gonna see it with Incin, Rillaboom, an Electric, and maybe an Urshifu, and it's gonna pound you hard if you don't find a way to get the speed advantage of survive through the cycling of fake outs and pivot moves. Beating Zacian-C requires dedicated preparation in the builder, deeper than going "this Pokemon can live a Behemoth Blade and OHKO back!" but thinking about your gameplan into Zacian-C teams as you build. The mon will likely never be bad where as I can see so many other restricteds going in and out.
Groudon
The Don sees a new life in series 10 thanks to its Precipice Blades + Heat Crash coverage giving it an insane matchup spread into "the good Pokemon". I think fast Life Orb is really really good if you pair it with proper speed control (this is not Porygon2 btw). Bulky Berry sucks when berries aren't 50%. More people should probably run it with Venusaur, sleep isn't being respected properly right now. I think the Weezing stuff I've heard rumblings of should be pushed more, though it's funny that Groudon would prefer to turn its ability off.
These are the ones I think are cool to use but you better be really damn good if you wanna win a tournament with them, and if so you're really good you should probably just use something more consistent. I think Eternatus and Lunala are both sick with Meteor Beam, I really dislike Cosmic Power Eternatus because it sucks on cartridge though. Ho-Oh seems to be The Call according to enlightened ones, I'm not a believer yet but I'll keep watching.
non restricted pokemon
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THE GUYS
The vanilla ice cream, chicken tenders, pepperoni pizza of the current metagame. These 5 offer a level of consistency via fake outs, speed tiers, great abilities/type spread, etc. that most other cores just really can't offer, which of course comes full circle to the tweet I linked at the start of the post. I think the core is fine and two skilled players playing some 3-5 of these + restricted is likely going to result in the more skilled player winning, which is really cool and a refreshing break from the Dynamax era, but I do think there are some cool alternative options! Let's dive in.
Priority Blockers
The former mostly seen with Calyrex-S and the latter with Kyogre (but far from exclusively, really), I think Tsareena and Lele are powerful disruptive tools for breaking up the cycling and balanced playstyle of "the guys". The biggest problem I have with them is that they don't actually threaten a ton offensively? Especially Lele, very few Dragons etc. in the format that it outright pressures from hitting the field unlike something akin to Ultra Series. Tsareena at least pressures Ogre hard, grasses with Triple Axel, and can always U-turn out. Mienshao and Entei, the meta's two common Inner Focus users, are also great for punishing the Fake Out + Intimidate loops as they're affected by neither. Entei gets bonus points for being pretty good into Xerneas and Zacian, while Mienshao makes the omnipresent Incineroar wish it weren't selected.
PINS
Stick with me here. Ditto is really cool because you need to knock out Pokemon to win the game, and in a format this bulky, a lot of what's doing the killing is a restricted. Using Ditto forces the opponent to play paranoid and carefully time their kills, when you can capitalize on accordingly by punishing the passive play. Shedinja is an option I mentioned earlier when talking about Kyogre, I heard it won some tournament and I'm really glad it did, the bug is just solid. 3 of the 5 restricteds I talked about earlier just can't touch it unless you're like Crunch Zacian (lol), a lot of the non restricteds can't hit it either, and it's just a great win condition. Better on PS because of the timer stuff but I'm excited to play with it on cart during World Cup of VGC.
Chansey is the one you may not have expected here. This is not the guard splitting Chansey oldcigarette preyed on you on the ladder with. This Chansey is wincon Chansey. I like to use it with Will-O-Wisp users like Calyrex-S and Shedinja which can forcibly spread burns until physical attackers can't break Chansey with a defense curl up. My standard set is Seismic Toss/Soft-Boiled/Defense Curl and then play with filler moves, my favorites have been Life Dew and Ally Switch.
Pranksters
The dichotomy between these two is really funny because Whimsicott is typically a (hyper) offense enabler while Thundurus appreciates these slower balances, crippling things with Eerie Impulse and the speed lowering move of your choice (Scary Face is way better). What I like about these two though is that going first just gives you more chances for disruption in a metagame where so many things are slow and honest. Putting your opponent on the backfoot early with these two and bringing in the late game restricted in prime position is a fast ticket to quick wins and I highly recommend you try these two out if you haven't yet.
Random Ass Nihilego
Yeah I think Nihi is cute. It snowballs and is extremely solid into the standard balance comps, though it has generally poor matchups into more restricteds than not, so be mindful when building with it. Rock / Poison is really great coverage though.
This is pretty much everything I wanted to talk about, the next time I'll make one of these posts will probably be once we hear about an official circuit or I do some world cup report or something. Did I mention I'm playing in World Cup?!
Thanks for reading~
- Staple mon, nothing surpring
- As an early TornOgre user, I noticed that RegiBoom is a very strong lead overall. Both cover theirselves pretty well, and Fake Out + Immediate speed control is very, very good. I think both are a great synergy.
- Zacian is our #1 restricted, not many surprises. Its very well rounded and flexible to H.O teams or more Bulky offense / balance comps
- Crit is busted so reasonable placing. Next.
I am kinda 50/50 regarding Xerneas. I feel it is a strong pick but I also think Xerneas is "dumb VGC 2019 hype". I think Volcarona sucks with Lando-I and other Pokémon that can K.O it quite easily are all around, so I don't think it is a good Xerneas pairing. I do think Xerneas team needs to develop.
I think this Pokémon is amazing and I'm B(i)ased
I think Gothitelle kinda sucks ngl
TSAREENA IS TOP 20 <3 shoutouts to my queen she is actually better then indeedeez and deal with eleki laboom lead easily 
- I spent a long time trying to make Yveltal work. By the end, I found that I wasn't bringing Yveltal to most of the matchups anyways. It basically just exists to hard counter Calyrex-S, and it loses to every other meta restricted. Additionally, Regieleki on every team makes this thing really hard to pilot.
- Most underrated mon in the format. I've tried several different sets (scarf, AV, even goggles) and they all put in work. Scarf is my personal favorite, as most teams just can't deal with its 
- I think Groudon is somewhat underrated right now. Sun is still a great archetype, and almost every team is weak to ground types right now. It also works well in Trick room; I used it on a team with gravity Dusclops, which makes it nearly impossible to switch into.
- A great partner for Zacian teams. Instant screens, threatens Landorus, speed control with icy wind, and a great support movepool. After a year of Dynamax, I think most people forgot the power of encore/disable. Encoring an Incineroar into fake out to set up a sub with Zacian feels great.
- In a restricted format, getting +2/+2 on a lot of legends can be an immediate game ender. Kyogre, Groudon, Zacian, and both Calyrex formes all become nearly unstoppable with some speed control and a decorate. Plus, Aroma Veil can be used to guarantee trick room on Groudon and Calyrex-Ice teams.
- Counters Kyogre, Zacian, and Groudon all at once, as well as Incineroar and Landorus. This thing literally has to be good. I'm honestly surprised that more Kyogre teams aren't running Ludicolo. Additionally, I think most Zacian teams would kill for a mon that threatens Incineroar, Landorus, and Kyogre at the same time. Running Politoed feels like dead weight, but I think Ludi's upside might be worth it.
and 
So something I think needs more experimentation myself would be Dracozolt in sand. Dracozolt checks Kyogre, Yveltal, outspeeds and OHKOs Regieleki in sand with Highhorsepower and is able to just OHKO some frailer offensive pokemon like Calyrex-S with LO Bolt Beak. Its just very threatening in general with its Bolt Beak
